Design & Nature Reimagined
I connect people to nature through art, information design, and storytelling. I write a weekly newsletter about nature, design, and hope.
Design & Nature Reimagined: The power of stories
ISSUE #49 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY The journal Nature had an article this week that highlighted that changing people's minds about climate change works best with personal stories. When people hear stories about how climate or nature has impacted them, people listen and take it to heart. Telling stories was the basis for this newsletter. I wanted to find ways to connect people with nature and bring hope through small stories about our natural world. This is what our reality is...
Design & Nature Reimagined: A cheese on the verge of extinction
ISSUE #48 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY This week I spent some time camping in a van, my first time ever! We went to Forks (cue Twilight jokes), and spent some time in the Hoh Rainforest and La Push. I'll be posting some of the photos on my Instagram if you'd like to see what the Pacific Northwest has to offer nature-wise. (Spoiler alert: it's gorgeous) If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here. design For years now I've followed the transformation of Paris from a...
Design & Nature Reimagined: Carbon Conscious Airports and Weak Jalapeños
ISSUE #47 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY This week I finally got back out in to the garden and went on my morning walks, getting as much from this summer as I possibly can. I went paddleboarding on Friday and saw a White-tailed Kite with its two babies, a Great Blue Heron, and two Turkey Vultures! Hope you had a lovely week, too. If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here. design Very on topic for Portland this week is the redesign of our airport. People in Portland...
Design & Nature Reimagined: Gardens for living
ISSUE #46 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY August always feels like a liminal space. The days are still long but seem lazier. August is a time to lounge in the garden or your favorite park, soaking up the sun and resting. Today's newsletter is about gardens and wildlife; and being able to connect with nature through garden design. If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here. design This rooftop garden at Basecamp Lyngby in Denmark is set on top of housing for students,...
Design & Nature Reimagined: Systems
ISSUE #45 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY This week we had two of the hottest days recorded in human history. We're seeing how our weather patterns changing and breaking down in ways that have been predicted for years but ignored until recently. So today, I want to take a look at systems, and how we are starting to better understand them. If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here. design One of the things I find most fascinating about nature is its complex system. We...
Design & Nature Reimagined: Relationships
ISSUE #44 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY Last week I gave my first nature education class, where I taught people about native plants, their role in ecology, and human uses for these plants. It was a lovely walk through the park and we even got to see some plants beginning their fruit production!This week's newsletter is about relationships. Mainly relationships with fungi. You can learn more about what fungi is in Parts 1 and 2 of The Universe Beneath Our Feet. If this email was...
Design & Nature Reimagined: Mystery
ISSUE #43 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY We're having a heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest, so I've spent some time out on the river, happily gliding on my paddle board, excited to see what beautiful thing I'm going to discover around each curve and bend. So what's on my mind this week is mystery and magic. There are so many natural mysteries that we can't answer today and may never be able to answer. And from the right angle, mystery can bend and refract into a little bit of...
Design & Nature Reimagined: AI and nature?
ISSUE #42 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY After a couple weeks of traveling and going to tech focused conferences, I'm getting a much needed break. I learned so much listening to these talks and meeting new people. A big discussion at each conference was AI, and there were many talks around new software, how it's being integrated into existing tools, ethics, and the future of AI. I'll be the first to say I'm a (big) skeptic. I don't think that just because we could do something means...
Design & Nature Reimagined: Coral
ISSUE #41 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY June is almost gone and with it the first half of the year. I can't believe it either! This week's newsletter is all about coral reefs, mainly because I want to be sitting on a warm beach somewhere with my toes in the water and a drink in my hand.If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here. design I love how ArcGIS mapping creates visual, interactive displays about large areas of our world. Check out this map that takes...
Design & Nature Reimagined: Keeping cool
ISSUE #40 DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED MARISA MORBY Summer is here, and I know for me living in the Pacific Northwest, I'm about ready to just lay out and sun myself like a lizard. I've missed you sun. But with the good comes the bad, in the form of high heat across the US, Europe, South Asia, and Africa. Let's learn about how we can stay cool through all this heat. And remember, there are only 57 companies that are linked to 80% of greenhouse gasses. Knowledge is the power to effect change.If...
I connect people to nature through art, information design, and storytelling. I write a weekly newsletter about nature, design, and hope.